The manufacture of toys is a multibillion dollar industry which produces complex and sophisticated toys designed to interest the typical child who has grown up in an era surrounded by space travel, computer games, and television. Many of these modern day toys utilize sophisticated electronics and computer software resulting in significant expense to the purchaser.
Popular toys for younger children are the construction sets which may comprise not only simple building blocks used by very young children, but also more complex metal components which are assembled together using nuts and bolts, or molded plastic blocks which simply snap together. These construction sets have also increased greatly in price over the past few years generally due to the increase in cost of materials and labor. In addition, many of these construction sets are heavy and bulky, making it difficult for the child to carry, as well as making it difficult to pack with the child when travelling. Some of these building sets produce very large structures when assembled thereby requiring a substantial area for the child to play in.
There is needed, therefore, apparatus and methods for building toy structures which are relatively inexpensive, easy to transport and which can be assembled in a relatively small area.